Shoe cushion



Q E L 1 i LC 5 ms.

Allg; 25, 1925.

E.. E. sTouT SHOE CUSHION Filed June :7, 1923 TTORNEY.

mw mw, WW W Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD E. STOU'I, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

SHOE CUSHION.

Application filed June 7,

To all 107mm 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. SToU'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State ot Indiana, have invented a new and useful Shoe Cushion, of which the following is a specilication.

It is the object ot my invention to produce a shoe having a cushioning iii-sole, whether over the whole or a part of the sole, which avoids any objectionable creeping and wadding of the cushioning` material; which creeping or wadding is probably caused by the pushing action of the foot in its backand-forth action in the shoe, and especially at the ball ot' the foot.

l/Vith ordinary cushioning material, suoli as telt, there is a pronounced tendency to make a hollow in ordinary cushioning material, especially at the ball of the foot, by pushing the cushioning material forward towards the toe of the shoe; which makes a very uncomfortable wadding ot' such cushioning material, and may result in serious injury to the foot.

According to my present invention, I provide a cushioning material in which this action does not take place. For this purpose, I use a cushioning mate-rial which is made up of fibers with the upper end of each fiber anchored in definite position in a suitable membrane, and the lower end preferably tree. This membrane which anchors the upper end of the iibers is thus toward the foot, with or without any other interposed layer'such as a sockelining, so that the upper ends of such fibers are positively held from being pushed out of place. The most convenient material I have found tor this is a natural material-lambs-wool (including wool from eithemwporammwhich I use with the woolly side down and the skin or flesh side up; but while I prefer this material my invention in its broader aspect is not limited thereto.

The accompanyng drawing illustrates my invention: Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a shoe having an insole embodying my invention, with the cushioning in-sole extending the whole length of the shoe; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the insole shown in Fig. 1, viewed obliquely upward from the bottom; and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the cushions only at the heel and the toe, and with a hard shank.

1923. Serial No. 643,825.

either sheep or lamb, cut to the proper size and shape, and placed in the shoe with the woolly side 12 down toward the shoe sole 10, and the liesh side or skin 13 upward toward the toot. The skin 13 may itself serve as a sock lining, if desired, thus avoiding the necessity for any additional sock-lining layer; but it is not essential that there be no other sock-lining put over the skin 13, if that is wished because of a desire or a different texture on the sock-engaging surface from that which the skin 13 provides.

By this lambs-wool in-sole the cushion is eitectively prevented from creeping and wadding. The cushion is made up of a myriad of hairs; and the upper end of each hair is firmly anchored in the skin 13. In consequence, any back-and-forth movement ot' the toot in the shoe, even at the ball of the foot, cannot greatly displace the upper ends of these tine hairs; and in use the hairs remain substantially in their original position in the shoe regardless of any tendency of the foot to displace them.

lVhile I prefer to use lambs-wool as the cushioning material because of its softness and the great feeling of com-tort which it gives to the toot, my invention is not limited to this particular natural material as the cushion. I may use other turs, with the hair or wool side down and the flesh side or skin side up. In addition, I may use artiicially prepared material, of any sort, where there is a. great number of capillary fibers 'each of which is anchored at one end in a membrane, as the wool of the lamb is anchored in the skin of the lamb. My invention in its broader aspect includes any such material so placed in the shoe that the upper ends of the fibers are anchored in place.

It is not necessary that the cushioning material extend over the whole sole. The cushioning material may be located only at the front end of the sole, below the ball of the foot and the toes; or only at the heel; or only at the two ends of the sole, front and rear, with no cushioning at the shank, as shown in Fig. 3. This arrangement with a relatively hard arch-supporting shank and a cushioning material both in front of and hehind sueh hard shank is speeilieally set forth in iny co-pending application, Ser. No. ($43,824, of even filing date herewith; and my present invention is applicable to that arrangement as well as to the structure where the cushioning material extends the whole length of' the sole.

I Claiin as iny invention:

l. In combination, a shoe having a sole, and a shoe cushion upon said sole, said shoe Cushion Comprising` lainhs-wool with the wool side down and the skin side up.

2. In combination, a shoe sole, and a lanihs-wool eushion thereon. with the wool downward and the skin upward.

3. In Combination, a shoe having a sole,

and a shoe Cushion upon said sole, said shoe Cushion comprising a natural fur having the skin side up and the fur side down.

4c. In combination, al shoe having a. sole, and a. shoe cushion upon said sole, said shoe cushion comprising a multitude of capillary iihers, the lower ends of said fibers being i'ree for relative motion, and a membrane in which the upper ends of said fibers are anchored.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set iny hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 7th day ot' May, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and twenty three.

EDWARD E. STOUT.

insg? 

